


Not Your Bestest Friend

by wackkypackk



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, Just Friends, Light Angst, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 22:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17712515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackkypackk/pseuds/wackkypackk
Summary: Will and Dustin hang out alone for once and become closer because of it.Or, another Will Byers is gay and coming out story, except with no gay intentions.





	Not Your Bestest Friend

**Author's Note:**

> hey! this is so freaking old dude. very old. so old it's bad. but I thought I'd post it anyways because... idk lol

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Dustin cried, frantically tapping away at the cabinet's buttons, trying to save himself from his imminent doom. His entire screen was filled up with blocks, ones he had been meticulously placing with the intention of knocking out a huge string of combos. However, in the midst of his "I'm totally gonna win" high, Dustin foolishly slammed down a block turned the wrong way, totally ruining his perfect plan.

Tetris sucked.

"Bullshit!" Dustin slapped the cabinet gently out of mild frustration as his screen flashed the final scores, denoting him the loser.

He looked over to Will, the proud victor of the intense Tetris match, doing his little victory jig. Well, Dustin couldn't stay mad at that. He and Will both erupted into laughter.

"It's no fair, you're a Tetris wizard, Will!" Dustin joked.

"Dude, if you'd stop trying to set up all these ridiculous combos you'd get farther. You always screw yourself over!"

Both boys were smiling big.

"Wanna go again, I'll definitely crush your scrawny ass this time," Dustin betted.

"No way, you've lost the exact same way three times now. I don't think you could handle any more of that embarrassment," Will said. "Besides, my scrawny butt is hungry, and you're buying."

Dustin rolled his eyes at his punishment for losing(even though he would've gladly bought food for them if Will had lost). The boys exited their beloved arcade and walked to the diner across the street.

The party originally had a plan to meet up that Friday night and have a total boy's night (the only exceptions to that "boy's" being Jane and Max, of course), including besting each other at the newest addition to the arcade "Tetris", maybe go to the cinema, or going over to Dustin's to play on his Atari, or even going back to Mike's and playing a simple board game (DnD was out, as that took far too long to plan out properly, so Clue would have to suffice). Unfortunately, Mike's family had to make an emergency trip to the hospital because one of his aunt's had gotten into a wreck, Jane wouldn't go if Mike wasn't going, and Lucas and Max were "grounded." It was bullshit, Dustin thought. The night was over, just like that. What a waste! That is until Will asked Dustin if it were okay if they hung out anyways, even if it was just the two of them, and of course, Dustin said yes.

Dustin often felt like he wasn't particularly close to any of his friends, like a stand-alone act, despite being labeled as a best friend by all of them. Mike and Will were closer than anyone else in the group, a feat that they all had once imagined impossible. However, with the Mind Flayer incident of 1984 (barely last year), Mike and Will became more than just best friends... they became the bestest of best friends, as Dustin liked to put it.

True, Dustin had felt once that he and Lucas were growing closer, but that feeling immediately vanished when Lucas and Max had gotten together (Dustin is still a little annoyed about his only love interest being stolen right under his feet). Dustin supposed he and Steve were sort-of friends now, though they rarely ever talked anymore. But when they did, it felt comfortable and Dustin enjoyed every second of it. It was nice having a more experienced guy he could look up to in his life, not to get cheesy. Dustin really only had his mom to look for "man advice" when his parents split. With Steve, he no longer had to rely on his mother's sweet, albeit inexperienced, advice on how to be a man.

So when Will still wanted to hang out with him, even when the rest of the party wasn't coming, Dustin was elated. Even though he and Will had never been particularly close, and of course not as close as he and Mike were, Dustin still cared for him. Especially after all the boy had gone through. He had wished he could've played a bigger part in Will's rescue--he won't say it out loud, but it makes him feel like a failure of a friend. But, at least he could be a part of Will's healing process.

After ordering their food, they took it out onto the street curb, enjoying the warm summer night.

"Ew, the damn french fries are cold already," Dustin complained, a displeased look taking over his face as he chewed the cold fry.

Will chuckled, and popped one in his mouth, as if to test out Dustin's claim. "Blegh!" Will stuck out his tongue, displaying the chewed up fry corpse for Dustin to see, to which he let out a hearty laugh.

"Dude, what the hell did you think I meant by 'ew, the damn fries are cold'?" Dustin made out after his and Will's little laughing fit. Will giggled in response.

The two continued eating their burgers, bringing up random topics of conversation and sending jokes each other's way. It was comfortable, something Dustin was struggling to feel with any of his friends for a long time. He felt relieved to be able to feel this after so long.

That is until it suddenly stopped being comfortable. He failed to notice it when it first started, but eventually, Will stopped talking or eating, letting an eerie silence fall over the two friends. When Dustin didn't get a response to the clever joke he just layed on Will, he glanced over at the boy. Will's face had fallen, no longer filled with the joy that had once been there. He was staring off into the nothing, almost as if he was thinking hard. Or maybe he was scared? Dustin felt a spike of panic.

"Hey, Will?" Dustin gently offered, not wanting to startle Will (which was easier to do nowadays).

Will jumped a bit when Dustin spoke, but he settled quickly. he still didn't look at Dustin.

"What wro-"

"Dustin, if I tell you something can you promise me that you won't... hate me?" Will interrupted.

Will's expression was intense, filled with worry.

The spike of panic was jabbing harder now. "I guess it depends..."

"Dustin, I'm serious," Will snapped his head towards Dustin, now looking directly into his eyes.

Dustin felt his stomach drop. He was scared now, no longer comfortable. What could possibly be on Will's mind?

"Y... yeah, dude, of course," Dustin said, becoming increasingly more worried.

Will swallowed hard, obviously mustering all of the courage he had.

Was it the Upside Down? Was the Mind Flayer back? Was Will in danger? Did he unconsciously murder someone--

"I'm gay."

Oh.

Dustin thought he felt himself relax but instead, he was filled with a new anxiety. Will looked like he was about to burst into tears. Or vomit. Or both.

"No way... Do you like Mike?" Dustin immediately asked without thinking.

"W-What? No," Will frowned, but it was quickly followed with a chuckle.

"Oh thank God, I didn't know if I could keep your undying love a secret from him. That's way too much pressure," Dustin said, overexaggerating his relief.

Will smiled a little, but his expression returned to being stern.

"Dustin, this is serious..." Will swallowed again. "Please don't tell anyone, you're the only one I've told so far."

Dustin's stomach churned. "That might be a bit harder to keep under wraps."

"Please," Will begged. The desperation in his eyes was almost too much for Dustin.

"Y-yeah, of course. Of course, dude," Dustin said, fully realizing the gravity of Will's situation. "And, y'know, I'm totally cool with you being into dick and all."

Will laughed and covered his face in embarrassment. Dustin grinned big, wrapping his arm around Will's shoulders and hugging him to his side.

"Thank you..." Will made out, his face still buried in his hands. He sniffled loudly, and Dustin knew he was crying now.

"No problem," Dustin said reassuringly. "But dude, you really scared me there, I thought you killed someone and was gonna ask me to help you bury the body. Because I'm obviously the strongest guy out of our friend group."

Will laughed, the giggle breaking off with a soft hiccup at the end. He wiped his face in his sleeve harshly and looked at Dustin. His face was now bright red and his eyes still watery with tears, yet Will still smiled proudly.

"Dude, if I needed help getting rid of a body, I'd ask Jane for help," Will retorted, sucking up snot. He laughed when he saw Dustin's face.

"No freaking way! You just freaking told me you were _gay_ and you don't trust me with helping you get rid of a dead body!" Dustin's arms flew up, feigning being offended. "Unbelievable! Un-freaking-believable!"

Will was full on laughing now, and Dustin joined him.

Will had just spilled his biggest secret to Dustin. He hadn't even told _Mike_ , who was previously denoted as Will's bestest friend.

Maybe Dustin wasn't as forgotten as he had thought.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [At the Counter of the Ice Cream Shop](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20584604) by [asexualjuliet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualjuliet/pseuds/asexualjuliet)




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